


Tethers

by softwareinstability



Series: Tumblr Prompts [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: First Kiss, Gen because it's literally just a kiss ;), M/M, Post-Pacifist Ending, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-11 01:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18419792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softwareinstability/pseuds/softwareinstability
Summary: It's been a hell of a loss, and he's been grieving. He's spoken now and then with Markus about their next moves, he's even hashed a few things out with North, but Connor? Connor is still a mystery to him.So it's a surprise when he looks up one morning and Connor is right there, looking back at him.





	Tethers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sabisun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sabisun/gifts).



> I do enjoy a rarepair :D Sorry this took me so long!  
> Come and find me on tumblr if you'd like to! I'm driftingdeviant over there. :)

Josh hasn't spent a great deal of time with Connor. He hasn't been avoiding the other android, not exactly, and it isn't even to do with what happened on Jericho. It's been more of a case of trying to deal with the fallout from their successful (if you can honestly call it that) last stand. He still feels as though too many lives were lost, as though there could and _should_ have been a better way. At the same time, he knows that they did the best they could, because the humans were never going to alter _their_ path without direction from someone much further up the chain of command. Pretty much every peaceful protest in history has ended with blood being spilt; Josh knows this. 

So he's not angry at Connor for the part that he played, he's only angry that Connor was under Cyberlife's thumb for so long. He knows that just as many androids would have been killed - if not more - even if Jericho had never been found. It still hurts. He'd gotten to know some of them in the time they'd gathered there, spoken with them about where they'd come from, their more personal dreams beyond attaining their freedom.

It's been a hell of a loss, and he's been grieving. He's spoken now and then with Markus about their next moves, he's even hashed a few things out with North, but Connor? Connor is still a mystery to him. Josh has seen him cold and vengeful, affected and insecure, broken, strong, beautiful and proud, but Connor is _still_ a mystery.

So it's a surprise when he looks up one morning and Connor is right there, looking back at him.

"Sorry," Connor says immediately. "I can go."

Josh shakes his head, his eyes drawn to the bright triangle of blue on Connor's jacket. "Why do you still wear that?" He wants to know.

Connor plucks at the garment like he'd forgotten he even had it on, and his shoulders lift in a shrug. "There were always parts of who I was that were mine. I guess this is a tether to that?"

"Or a remnant of a past you should leave behind you," Josh suggests. "Far behind."

"Maybe so." Connor leans back against the wall beside where Josh is sitting, and folds his arms across his chest. The sun is rising over Detroit, its light almost sickly as it bleeds into the still-deserted streets. "What will you do? When the dust finally settles on all of this?"

Josh pulls his knees up to his chin, considering the question. "I don't know. I'd like to teach again, but on my own terms? It's one of the best ways that I know of connecting with people."

Connor slides down then, stretching his long legs out in front of him and closing his eyes as he rests his head back against stone. "People," he repeats. "You mean humans as well as androids?"

"I mean everyone." 

"You'll be good," Connor says, a certainty to his voice that makes Josh smile. Strange, that Connor can give him cause to where little else has just lately. "I would.. happily be your student." 

Josh picks up on the pause, and can guess at the reason for it. Connor's still struggling with his deviancy, still not confident in describing what he feels, or even in allowing himself to have feelings in the first place. "Well, if I'm ever offered a job in my field again, I'll be sure to let you know." Josh is doubtful about it ever happening. Maybe there really _is_ a light at the end of this tunnel, but with all they've suffered, it still feels like a long way from what they could confidently call a win.

"How do you forgive them?" Connor asks, out of the blue.

"I don't know that I can," Josh confesses. "But I'll certainly try. We have what we have, and it might not seem like a lot right now but Markus is the best leader we could hope for. I believe he'll see all of us - humans as well - to a place where we can co-exist." Josh doesn't add 'peacefully' there, because as much as he strives for it, he knows there will always be animosity between androids and humans. Co-existing is about the best he can hope for.

Connor nods, and angles his body towards Josh's. "I'm sorry you lost so many of your people."

" _Connor_ -"

"I asked Markus who they were. Their names, their histories. It's not.. it's not the same. You should tell their stories."

Josh tilts his head in question. "Me? How?"

"Write them down, or.. I don't know, but tell them. Don't let them be forgotten. You had the right words to help Markus choose the right path, so I know you have the words for this as well."

Josh hears it. The pain, the regret in Connor's voice. Hears it, where Connor may not even realise it's there, or if he does he might not know exactly why it is. "The lives that were lost.. Connor, they're not on you." Josh touches Connor's hand, curves his fingers over Connor's knuckles. "You did nothing wrong."

"So I'm told. I still feel responsible, Josh, I can't help it. I don't know what to do. I don't know where I should be."

"You should be here," Josh says firmly, immediately. "With us." Impulsively, he lifts Connor's hand and presses his lips to the back of it. "With me," he adds, suddenly understanding how Connor must feel almost all of the time because this? This is new. 

"I should go back inside," Connor says, his voice ringing with a faint metallic edge. "Markus wanted to see me, I-" He starts to get up, then stops, and Josh watches him carefully, sees the way his eyes scan blankly for a second as though he's been faced with a prompt he doesn't know how to address. Josh wants to tell him _it's only me, Connor. I'm nothing to be afraid of._ He doesn't need to say anything though, because Connor bends and kisses his mouth. It's fleeting at best, but Josh feels it down to his core all the same. 

"You didn't have to- Not just because of what I said, Connor," Josh starts to say, but Connor's already up and heading towards the door to go back inside. He does turn when he reaches it though, and gives Josh a sweet half-smile.

"I wanted to."


End file.
